JargonFile/entries/software laser.txt

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2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
software laser
2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
n. An optical laser works by bouncing photons back and forth between two
mirrors, one totally reflective and one partially reflective. If the lasing
material (usually a crystal) has the right properties, photons scattering
off the atoms in the crystal will excite cascades of more photons, all in
lockstep. Eventually the beam will escape through the partially-reflective
mirror. One kind of sorcerer's apprentice mode involving bounce message s
can produce closely analogous results, with a cascade of messages escaping
to flood nearby systems. By mid-1993 there had been at least two publicized
incidents of this kind.